3.05

Evidence of Compliance:

The Department is strongly committed to continuing consultation with practitioners and community leaders concerned with the field. This commitment is manifest in several ways, including, but not limited to, the following:

A. Internship Program

The internship program has been consistently a strong and successful method for consulting with the professional community for over 20 years. After presenting documentation of at least 1,000 hours of paid or volunteer leadership experience, students are required to complete an internship with an agency in their area of study. The Internship program requires students to complete 400 hours of paid or volunteer service (or 560 hours of paid or volunteer service for Therapeutic Recreation students) during one semester at an approved agency.

Through the Internship program, the Department has ongoing personal contact with approximately 150 agencies in all facets of the profession. The internship coordinator, faculty supervisor, intern, and agency mentor all work in close cooperation to assure the most realistic and educational experience possible for the student. The faculty supervisors are in both personal and phone contact with the interns and agency mentors throughout the experience, and (when within a 50 mile radius of the University) visit the agencies, at least once, in person during the student's internship. Files on each potential Internship agency are maintained in the Department Office and are open to students at all times.

B. Department Alumni

A majority of the over 2,300 alumni have remained in the Southern California area and many continue in professional practice in a wide variety of settings. Many of these alumni have a high level of interest in the program and willingly act as guest speakers in classes or consult on curricular matters. In 2014 the department created an Alumni survey, and posted a link to the survey on the department home page. We heavily marketed the survey when it was first developed, and plan to do so again with recent alumni at our state conference in Sacramento. Recent results of the survey (edited to remove identifying information) can be viewed here. Example employment has been highlighted to show where our graduates are working.

The Department has strong ties to its alumni, chiefly through the Recreation and Leisure Studies Alumni Association (RALSAA). Though RALSAA has been relatively inactive as we fill our faculty vacancies, recent efforts to restart the board meetings have identified Spring 2019 timeline.

The purpose statements of RALSAA are:

• To support and act as an advocacy group for the Mission and Goals of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies.
• To assist in strengthening the quality of the educational experience for the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department students both undergraduate and graduate.
• To foster strong links between present and former students and to create mentoring opportunities for currently enrolled Recreation and Leisure Studies Majors.
• To support research, analysis and publications of such in the field of Recreation and Leisure.
• To financially support through development efforts the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies in the areas of scholarship, fellowships, library acquisitions and any other areas identified by the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies.
• To support the faculty as resource personnel for class discussions or presentations.
• To support recruiting efforts to build the department by encouraging prospective students to explore Recreation and Leisure Studies as a major.
• To act as advocates for the concerns of our profession
• To facilitate social and professional interaction among the members of the RALSAA.

In addition to RALSAA, alumni from the department are active in the provision of services such as guest speakers in classes, part-time instructors, members of interview panels, and committee members of professional student sponsored educational workshops and events. Faculty are in close contact with many of the alumni and regularly seek advice and support for curriculum development, joint research projects, and program development.

C. Professional Organizational Support

The Department is supportive and actively involved in local, state, and national professional organizations, which provide contact with practitioners on a regular basis. Some examples of joint involvement include:

• CPRS District 10/Women in Leisure Services Professional Mentoring Program
• CPRS District 10 Annual Board Meeting held on campus
• CPRS District 10 workshops held on campus

D. Faculty Participation in Professional Associations and Activities

Full time faculty members are active in a wide range of professional associations as evidenced by their vitae, including:

The Academy of Leisure Sciences (TALS)

American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA)

American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA)

Association for Experiential Education (AEE)

California Parks and Recreation Society (CPRS)

National Council on Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC)

National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA)

Women in Leisure Services (WILS)

World Leisure Organization